On May 1, 1962, seven candidates for governor of the state of Alabama prepared to learn the results of the Democratic primary, a de facto coronation in the one-party political environment of the state. The returns were surprising. Most assumed that James “Big Jim” Folsom, a two-term governor hoping for an unprecedented third term, would win easily. Instead, Folsom ran a close third to Ryan DeGraffenried of Tuscaloosa and the frontrunner, George C. Wallace, a district judge, former state senator, and recent runner-up in the gubernatorial race of 1958.

Becoming Alabama: Civil Rights Movement

Author

Matthew L. Downs (PhD, Alabama) is an adjunct professor of history at Birmingham-Southern College. His dissertation focused on the federal government's role in the economic development of the Tennessee Valley.